Oops. It's been over 2 weeks since I've offloaded pictures of regular life or the things we've done. I did do a post about going to Victoria and one for Eva turning 16 months though!
Anyway... Here's what I've been up to since August 12 :)
Friday August 12 in the morning the kids and I met up with Ashleigh and Phoebe at the Cloverdale Athletic Park playground and waterpark in the morning. In the afternoon I made pierogi pizzas for Jesse and Kirstin to thank them for watching Sherlock for us while we were away camping. We ate outside while the kids played.
I put a toy in a balloon, put some water in it, and froze it. The kids had a blast "cracking the egg" and melting it to release the toy. Great heat wave activity!
Marta gave us some leaves from a plant in her house (I have zero idea what kind of plant it is/what it's called. I have a black thumb). We propagated them and they were ready to plant! I used some soil from the basil plant I roasted and killed, and the kids helped plant them and Dom's has sprouted a new leaf! Emilia's hasn't grown new leaves yet, but it is still alive so I'll take it haha.
She just discovered the stroller and loves pushing her baby around.
Emilia's been crushing her pedal bike!
Friday means dessert! Jesse & Kirstin provided some popsicles :)
Saturday August 13 was Adam's birthday. I honestly truly had a horrible morning that day. I was completely emotional and my mental health tanked BIG time. I spent most of the early afternoon hiding in my closet crying. Real cool, Renee! At least Dave came to the rescue and the kids were understanding. I got my period two days later, so I was understanding at that point too. Phew!
Jeff & Owen came for burger dinner and Jeff put Owen down at our place. Then Mom, Dad, Jeff, Scott and I all piled in the Subaru and drove downtown for Adam's birthday drinks at La Tana. It was such a blast and soo needed! The food was great, and the drinks were very fun. Not like anything I'd normally order! We had wine, Amaretto, and flights of Grappa. The waitress and a bar tender came to check it out as they've never had that many bottles of Grappa on a table at a time.
Struggling behind these smiles
We ordered new tires for Dom's bike as his old ones were getting flat. Now we're getting him a whole new (to him) bike, but whatever! Dave was in full Dad mode putting these things on.
Dave sent me this while I was hiding in the closet. Way to make them look so adorable.
And this...
My hours of alone time after my meltdown allowed me to curl my hair and do makeup for the first time in a lonnnng time.
Hi O!
When I go to get Dom & Emilia ready for bed. Ohhh my gosh. At least it doesn't take too long to clean up because everything has a spot, but yikes!
I got squished between these two broad guys in the car haha. CORNERS!
Happy Birthday Abdomen!
Our adorable round of Amaretto, all in different sized/shaped crystal glasses.
Me and the boys ordered flights of grappa (some sort of liqueur made from the leftover grapes from wine making?? Or something?). We didn't realize they bring you the entire bottle along with your glass so you can see what you're drinking. They place a lot of trust in you that you're not going to top up your glass haha. We didn't order specific ones, so the waitress just brought what she thought we'd like and we all got different ones.
My array. The first two were actually quite good.
Cheers!
The real MVP staying home to watch the kids and Owen so that we could go.
Sunday August 14! I played bass in the morning, and then we invited Scott & Ash over for dinner. I randomly decided to learn how to BBQ and I made potatoes (in foil), chicken breast, steak and roasted peppers on the grill. It turned out delicious and I was very proud of myself! After dinner we walked up to the park for a quick run around.
Who left the dirt bucket (dead basil) out? Me. I did.
Cousin party!
Aunty Ashleigh is the coolest
Behind the scenes haha.
Monday August 15. Finally a down day! I booked a massage for myself at Fluid Day Spa to use up the last of my benefits for this fiscal year and it was perfection. It's hard to find someone who doesn't talk too much, works in a spa-like environment, and has strong enough hands for me, and my masseuse did amazing. Was just what the doctor ordered! I gave Emilia a haircut that day too!
He has grown up so much this summer. I can hardly take it.
So tired haha. Waiting for my massage
A rare sweet moment with the oldest and the youngest.
Tuesday August 16 was our Victoria day! I already wrote about that one so I won't do that again here :)
Wednesday August 17 I went to work and it was another HOT day. We seem to have a few days of 25-30 and then suddenly a couple days that feel like 40. Good times. Kirstin's mom bought her this ginormous sprinkler splash pad thing so we set that up for the first time that day. Perfect for this heat!
Dom built a ferry with his airplane lego and played ferry in his bed before bedtime <3
This brings us to last Thursday. Mom & Dad took Dom & Emilia for a sleepover Thursday to Friday so we got some free(er) time! While they were out swimming and eating pancakes for dinner with Opa & Oma, we took Eva to Jeff & Marta's for dinner and put her down there for bedtime. We got to stay out later and talk like adults for a while which was very nice and too rare. Scott & Ash joined us for dinner, and then Scott came back for some drinks and chats after bedtime.
Dom & Emilia wanted to make a play schedule for their day.
- Dollhouse
- Lion Cub
- Book
- Handshake (we have a secret handshake)
- Cards
Dom's. He actually did really well sounding out the words and guessing which letter came next. As a perfectionist, he insisted on confirming with me before writing though.
- Foosball
- Star Wars
- Tag
- Lion Cub
- Tools
- Cars
- Lego
- Preschool
- NHL Teams
- Hockey
This little one loves a selfie. Her mother does not haha!
She was feeling quite anxious about going to Opa & Oma's overnight, so we made a secret handshake, braided friendship bracelets, cuddled lots, and she brought one of my nail polishes as a comfort item. Her choice haha. She did great of course.
Big kids are gone! She's loving some "only child" time!
Perks of kids leaving on a 35+ degree day... WE GET THEIR AC!
Mr. O. Can't believe he's one in a week!
What do you think they're plotting
Now I'm hungry again.
To appease Marta, I tried a "little" cesar. It was definitely 80% Vodka, but as I normally despise cesars, I thought I'd give it a chance. I can confidently say I can see how these could be an acquired taste. I am definitely not there yet, but I could see how someone might find appeal in them haha.
Ping Pong & Ladder Ball after bedtime of course.
Last Friday was a quieter day for us as well. Mom & Dad took Dom and Emilia on the skytrain and went all the way to Science World, then hopped off and took the aqua bus to Granville Island and then came all the way back. Super fun for them! We spent the morning hanging out with Eva and enjoying the simplicity that comes with just one kid. You don't realize how easy it is until you go from 3 to 1. Whew. I remember people saying that when I just had Dom and I was like "no way. How is that even possible?! This is so much work!" Haha. Oh Renee.
I spent much of the morning school prepping. Baking loaf for the freezer, ironing on name labels for all the kids' clothes, etc.
Last Saturday was another toaster. Kirstin set up the splash pad for some afternoon fun.
Glad we don't have to worry about the water being ingested here.
Everyone partook in some pool water haha.
Good for fishin' too.
What a face.
Long legs
Nudy bum took off on me.
Sunday we were up right on time, ate breakfast, and piled in the car to go out to Agassiz for the day! We met up with Gramma and Grandpa at Harrison to go to the beach in the morning. It was nice and cool, but not cold, and not at all busy when we got there. The kids played in the sand for a bit, and then Dom & Emilia moved on to the playground. Eva lived her BEST life that morning. Wow. She was all in with the mess. She was filthy from the sand. Literally rolling around in it in her clothes. It was amazing. Then as we're getting reading to go she finally takes off and plunges into the water in all her clothes. Alllllrighty then! She could have stayed in there all day I'm quite certain.
After the beach we went back to G&G's house for lunch and Eva's nap. We all had a really relaxing afternoon. Most of us got a nap in at some point, we did puzzles, had margaritas, and just rested. Afterwards we played some croquet (I came in second, though it was my first time every playing :)) and had dinner. Our drive home was long and trying, but we made it haha!
Me trying not to be afraid of getting dirty haha.
Paparazzi caught me trying to hold Eva back. She just kept trying to dive and refused to hold my hand.
Paparazzi also caught her epic face plant that required some rescuing and resulted in some serious sputtering haha. Had it coming when you refused to hold my hand and tried to run in the water, girl!
Here Gramma, keep this creature out of the water while I grab her a diaper. Time to embrace the fact that she's not coming out of here until we're in the van.
#WORTHIT
Emilia was clearly sooo tired, so Dave offered to go sit with her downstairs. Result.
Playing on a toy from Dad's childhood
Yesterday I was feeling pretty beat. I took the big kids on my errands during Eva's nap since Dave was home, we played outside again, and then we went to celebrate Kirstin's birthday at their place. She made dinner, we brought cheesecake!
Felt cute for a hot second in my bathing suit lol
These kids are tiiiiiired. We've been way too busy being out and about. They are in desperate need of a few home days to introvert and recuperate. Me too!
Today was just such a down day. I watched and soaked in the moments of all 3 kids sitting and playing together while I folded laundry on a calm weekday morning. These days are about to end. I can't believe it. It's going to be so weird not having Dom around every day all day!
At dinner Eva learned how to say "Cheese!" and ham it up for photos. This will be fun :)
AFTER dinner we took our neighbour's old bike out for a spin to test it. It's a 20", Dom's usual bike is a 16". It does not have any training wheels. Dom has never ridden without training wheels, though he rode with one on his regular bike for a day after the other one broke off. This kid. He RIPPED around on this new bike for over an hour. Had a couple small falls, but wow his confidence exploded and he felt like the coolest dude there ever was. He was sooo proud of himself, and so were we. Neighbours were coming out to cheer him on and he was just tickled. He's his best self when doing something athletic. Now we have to buy this bike off the neighbour! Haha
